Samantha Mythen
‘HE died a sad and lonely man,’ a friend of Stephen Nelson, the founder of defunct company Iberian Funeral Plans, told The Olive Press.
The friend, who asked to remain anonymous, said Nelson was ‘anything but a rich man’.
The British pal, who knew him for a number of years, revealed his funeral took place in Faro on March 5, with ‘just four people’ in attendance.
This included his eldest daughter, who flew out from the UK, as well as a couple of local friends.
He had died at a hospice, near Faro, at the end of February after falling seriously ill.
The pensioner, who has lived in Spain for a couple of decades, added Nelson had been very unwell and had been suffering from chronic diabetes for years.
“He had his foot amputated from the disease about five years ago. He was very ill,” he added.
The friend, who is also a victim of the funeral company collapse, insisted Nelson had lived a very ‘unassuming and inconspicuous life’ in Portugal.
He had only gone out for a coffee or a supermarket trip once a week, disputing previous speculation he had lived a ‘lavish’ lifestyle.
“He never lived a jet setter or affluent lifestyle. He was always at home,” he said. “Every morning he would have two coffees and a cheese and ham sandwich in his local cafe. That was it.”
He continued: “I am hurting, the same as many of your readers. We have two, fully paid-up Iberian policies that are now obviously worthless.
“But the business certainly wasn’t just him. He took a backseat for a long while because he was ill.”
The Olive Press understands there were various other figures running the business over the last few years, including former family members in Spain, and at least one administrator, who lives in Velez Malaga.
We have tried to contact others involved in the company, but so far they have not responded.
Incredibly, the company website is still online, although the firm has not been responding to any emails for the past month, and its telephone lines run dead.
Iberian itself has offered no confirmation, nor any information at all, to its customers on the company’s apparent collapse.
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